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Terms related to 'Insect life cycles'

A group of terms related to insect life cycles.

Terms in this group

Adenotrophic viviparity
a type of development where eggs hatch within the female insect and the larvae are nourished until ready to pupate. At this stage the larvae are laid and pupate immediately.
Aestivation
a period of summer dormancy.
Bivoltine
a species having two broods per year.
Brood parasitism
a form of parasitism whereby the parasite uses another organism to raise the parasite's offspring rather than the host's own offspring.
Caterpillar
the second stage in the life cycle of butterflies and moths.
Chorion
the outer shell of an insect's egg.
Chrysalis
the third stage in the life cycle of a butterfly or moth.
Cocoon
the protective covering around the pupae or chrysalis of some insects.
Complete metamorphosis
a type of metamorphosis in which an insect goes through four distinct stages: egg, larva, pupa, imago.
Cremaster
a series of hooks used to attach the pupa of a butterfly or moth to a twig or other structure.
Diapause
the arrested development of an organism. Diapause is often the result of environmental conditions.
Drone
the name given to male bees.
Ecdysis
moulting of the arthropod cuticle.
Eclosion
the emergence of an insect from a pupa or egg.
Egg
the first stage in the life cycle of many insects and other animals.
Endopterygota
the development of the wings inside the body of an insect.
Exopterygota
the development of the wings outside the body in insects.
Exuvia
the cast-off outer skin of an arthropod after a moult.
Flying ant day
the colloquial name given to the day when winged ants emerge from their colonies and go on their nuptial flight.
Food plant
the type of plant eaten by a particular species.
Frass
the droppings of insect larvae.
Gall
a growth on a plant in response to the action of an insect.
Geometer
the larvae of Geometrid moths.
Gyne
the female reproductive of bees, ants and wasps. Usually the name used to describe the female before she has been on the nuptial flight.
Hermaphrodite
a hermaphrodite is an organism possessing both male and female sexual organs.
Imago
the adult insect.
Incomplete metamorphosis
a type of metamorphosis in which an insect hatches from an egg and then goes through several similar nymphal stages before reaching adulthood.
Insects
the largest Class of arthropods and the most diverse group of animals in the world.
Instar
an immature arthropod between moults.
Juvenile hormone
a hormone that inhibits development of a juvenile insect to an adult.
Larva
the juvenile form of an insect.
Leaf miner
the larvae of an insect living between the upper and lower surfaces of a leaf.
Life cycle
the stages of the life of an organism.
Life stage
an individual stage in the life of insects, each usually having a very different appearance to the other stages.
Maggots
the common name given to the larvae of some species of true fly (Diptera).
Metamorphosis
the process of development of an organism that involves distinct stages with an abrupt change between them.
Multivoltine
a species having many broods per year.
Nuptial flight
the mating flight of some insects such as social bees and ants.
Nuptial gift
items provided by a male invertebrate to a female prior to mating.
Ootheca
a type of egg mass produced by several different groups of insect including Praying mantids and Cockroaches.
Order
one of the seven taxonomic ranks used to classify living organisms. Order comes after Class and before Family.
Oviparity
reproducing by means of laying eggs.
Parasitoid
an organism that lives on or in another organism and eventually kills it.
Parthenogenesis
the reproduction of an individual whereby offspring are produced without fertilisation by a male.
Pharate
the adult insect prior to emergence from a pupa.
Pupa
the third stage in the life cycle of insects undergoing complete metamorphosis.
Puparium
an outer covering that protects the pupae of some flies (the Cyclorrhapha).
Univoltine
a species having one brood per year.
Viviparity
giving birth to live young (not eggs).
Wing bud
flattened structures possessed by nymphs from which the wings will develop in the adult insect.

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